The Miami Murders
by Aeon65
Summary: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team. SLASH. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Rating**: T for now, may turn M later.

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

**Author's Note**: This story has been rolling around in my head for some time now. I had intended for it come later in the timeline of my Horatio/Speed series but it's been taking over my brain lately and preventing me from doing some other things. I'm going to upload this a chapter at a time. Mostly because I want to see if there is any interest in my continuing with it. I have a pretty good idea where this is going so just let me know if you want more. You should probably read my other stories as I will be using some of my original character in this one. The order the fall is _Love, Hurt, and Sprouts_, _The Morning After_, _A Night Out_, and _Discoveries_.

**Disclaimer**: DOA - Don't Own Anything

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The night air in Miami was cool, with a breeze blowing off the water. The pounding beat of music broke the evening quiet as it filtered out of the open front entrance of Club Vanity. A young man stepped out and up to the door of the waiting cab. He was dressed for a night out, black leather pants that hugged his form in all the right places and left little to the imagination, red silk shirt that clung to his upper body, and boots practically up to his knees. He had short blonde hair, tussled from an evening of dancing and other activities at the club.

He opened the back door to the cab and the driver asked, "Where to buddy?"

"Hialeah. Thirty-third and Palm," the young man answered as he collapsed into the back seat.

The cab slowly pulled away from the curb and disappeared into the night.

At 7am the next morning, Horatio Caine pulled his Hummer up to the crime scene tape at the south-east corner of Palm Avenue and Thirty-third Street in Hialeah. A sense of dread filled his being as he approached the body. Alexx Woods was already there, as was Frank Tripp and a uniformed officer. There was a car stopped at the far end of the intersection on the other side of another line of crime scene tape. A man stood leaning against the front of the car with his arms crossed over his chest. Some of the residents from the area were starting to gather.

Alexx was kneeling next to the body which was presently laying face down. A pool of blood had formed around the head and neck of the victim. Horatio approached slowly and cocked his head, taking in the figure of a young man in leather pants and a red silk shirt lying on the ground. As Alexx turned the body over Horatio said a silent prayer, _please not another one_.

Alexx looked at the face of the young man. "Baby boy can't be more than eighteen, Horatio," she said with a pained expression. The young man's shirt fell open, the buttons torn off, revealing the letters, F A G carved into his chest.

Horatio sighed. "He's escalating, Alexx." He knelt down next to the body, gesturing at the victim's neck. "This boy's throat's been cut ear to ear."

Alexx leaned in close to Horatio and whispered, "Do you know him?"

Horatio shook his head to indicate that he did not know the boy. "He doesn't look familiar," he replied quietly. "Does he have any ID on him?"

Alexx looked up. "Not sure where he'd put it," she said, eyeing the tight fit of the boy's clothes. "I'll check more thoroughly when I get him back for the post."

Horatio nodded and stood up. He walked over to Frank who was talking to the uniformed officer. Frank turned to Horatio, "Looks like we got another one. Similar MO as the other three."

Horatio tilted his head in the direction of the man standing against the car. "He the one who found our victim?" he asked.

"Name's Peter Tolbert. He was on his way to work. Nearly ran over the guy," Frank answered.

They walked over to the man. "Mr. Tolbert, my name is Horatio Caine. I'm with the crime lab. Can you tell me what happened?"

Tolbert looked over at the body. "Like I told him," he gestured toward Frank, "I was driving down to work and I saw something in the road. At first I thought it was a dead dog or something. When I got closer… well, I saw it wasn't and I called 911."

"Did you see anyone else around? Any other cars or anything?" Horatio asked.

"Nope. At this hour the road's pretty well deserted." He looked over at the body again then asked, "Is this one of them queer killings I've been reading about in the papers?"

Horatio removed his sunglasses trying to control the anger that was rising. Eying the man closely, he replied in an even controlled manner, "Murder is murder, sir."

"Yeah, whatever," the man replied. "Can I go now? I gotta get to work."

"Leave a number where you can be reached with the detective here, in case we have more questions for you," Horatio answered, donning his sunglasses once again and turning to leave.

As he walked back toward Alexx and the body he saw another Hummer pull up to the tape next to his. Eric and Speed got out then grabbed their kits from the back. He passed by Alexx and walked strait up to the other two men. He took off his sunglasses, meeting Speed's eyes.

After nine months together as lovers, he and Speed had gotten pretty good at reading each other. Speed could tell by the look in Horatio's eyes that they had another victim of the same serial killer they'd been after for the past month. His heartbeat sped up a little. Each time he approached one of these killings he was afraid it would be someone they knew.

Horatio looked over at Eric. "Start processing. We got another one."

Eric nodded. "Sure, H," he said and headed over to Alexx.

Horatio stood with Speed. He could see the anger rising in the younger man. He placed a hand on Speed's shoulder. "Tim, keep it under control. We'll get this guy."

Tim took a deep breath trying to calm himself. "Who's doing this Horatio? Everyone's freaking out."

Horatio moved his hand to Tim's face. "We'll get him." He removed his hand quickly before anyone saw him. He wanted nothing more than to pull Tim into his arms and hold him until his temper calmed. But, other than Alexx, no one knew that they were lovers, or for that matter that either man was gay. He looked into Tim's eyes and said, "Go help Eric. This guy has to leave us something, sometime. I'm gonna meet Alexx over at the morgue for the post."

After taking a moment to calm his nerves, Tim headed over to the body. He pulled out his camera and stood for a moment looking at the boy. His anger flared again when he saw the letters carved into the his chest. Alexx glanced up at him with a questioning look. Tim understood that she was wondering if he knew the boy. He shook his head and Alexx stood.

"I've done all I can here. When your done collecting, hand him over to the hauler." As she walked passed Tim she hesitated a moment and placed a hand on his arm, giving him a friendly squeeze. He tried to smile but he just wasn't in the mood.

Speed turned back to the scene. Eric was eyeing something on the ground about a foot from the body. He pulled a scale out of his kit an laid it down next to the object. Speed stepped over to him.

"What do you have?" he asked.

"Maybe nothing," Eric answered. "Or maybe our guy just got sloppy." He pointed to a cigarette butt on the ground.

Speed snapped a couple of pictures then Eric carefully bagged the butt. "Maybe we could get some DNA from this," Eric said.

"Could just be the kid's," Speed replied.

"Why do you always have to be so negative?" Eric asked as he stowed the evidence bag away in his kit.

Speed shrugged as he snapped a few pictures of the body. "This guy has left us nothing. Three victims, no prints, no hair, no fibers. It's like he's a ghost."

"Ya know," Eric said, "this had to be messy. There's no way our guy didn't end up covered in blood." Eric started walking around the body in ever widening circles. Suddenly he stopped and pointed. "Gravitational droplets."

Speed came over with his kit and pulled out a scale carefully placing it next to the drop before snapping a picture. By the time they had finished they had collected pictures and swabs from fifteen blood drops. The drops ended suddenly about twenty feet from the body.

"He must have gotten into a vehicle," Speed said.

"Knife attacks are messy," Eric theorized. "The attacker usually cuts himself in the process. Maybe some of this blood doesn't belong to our victim."

"As long as he wasn't wearing gloves. Remember there hasn't been any print evidence," Tim replied.

"There you go being negative again."

"I can't help it," Tim said. "It's just my nature."

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Okay, more to come soon. It may take a couple of weeks as I am leaving for Florida at the end of this week and I have promised I wouldn't bring any work with me. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Rating**: T for now, may turn M later.

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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Horatio walked into the autopsy theater just as Alexx was starting to undress the boy.

"Hang on a minute, will you Alexx," Horatio said. Alexx stopped what she was doing. "I want him tagged 'special processing'. Hold off for a bit, okay? Calliegh's on her way."

"Sure thing, Horatio." She already had one arm out of his shirt. "But I can tell you one thing about him already," she said holding up his bare arm.

Horatio came closer and took a look. "Track marks," he said. "Heroin?"

"Probably, but I won't know for sure 'till we get the tox results back. How does a young kid like this get money for heroin?" she asked.

Horatio shook his head. "Judging by the way he's dressed," he said, "maybe prostitution. We should collect a rape kit."

"I'll take care of it as soon as Calliegh's done."

Horatio said, "Get a ten card also. He may be in the system."

Calliegh walked up to Horatio. "What am I looking for?"

"Anything you can find that can help us get this monster," he said with a bit more venom then he intended.

Calliegh took a close look at the body on the table. "He looks like he's just a kid."

She began processing the body as Horatio left. She carefully scanned the clothing before undressing him. As she pulled off one of his boots a small packet of rolled up paper fell out. She bent down and picked it up. Unrolling the paper she found $200 in cash and a driver's license. There was a note on the paper with an address in Hialeah.

Placing all of this aside, she continued to undress the body. When she had finished she looked carefully over the boy. He was thin to the point of being malnourished. He had some bruising that appeared to be a few days old on his ribs and some scarring on his back and sides. She pulled out an ALS and turned the room lights down, then began scanning the blue light down the body until she got to his right hand and stopped. Glowing back at her was a stamp on the back of the boys hand, Club Vanity.

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Horatio went up to the labs to see if Speed and Eric had managed to collect any evidence at the scene. He stopped by trace first but Tim wasn't there. Next he went to the print lab where he found Eric going through some files.

"Did you find anything the scene?" he asked, startling Eric.

"Could you make some noise or something when you walk, H?" Eric joked causing Horatio to chuckle. "Yeah, we found a cigarette butt and some gravitational blood drops."

"Great," Horatio exclaimed. "They over in DNA?" Eric nodded. "Have you seen Speed? He's not in trace."

"My guess, he's hovering over Velera waiting for the DNA results. I don't know why, but this case is really getting to him."

Horatio didn't answer him, instead just turned and left. He looked through the window of the DNA lab seeing Speed just sitting there staring at the centrifuge. Valera looked tense. He decided to intercede and rescue his DNA analyst from the impatient CSI.

He poked his head into the room. "Speed, can I talk to you for a moment."

Tim sighed and got up from the seat he'd been occupying. Valera gave Horatio an appreciative look and mouthed, 'thank you.' Tim leaned up against the wall and let his head fall back. Horatio gave him a slightly amused look. "Staring at the machinery won't make it work any faster, you know."

Speed let out a snort of laughter. "This from the man who stares at the coffee pot every morning willing it to fill faster."

Horatio ducked his head and smiled. "Touché. But it still doesn't work."

"I'm just frustrated. We still have nothing to go on."

"Well," Calliegh interrupted as she approached the two men, "I may have something." She had their undivided attention. "The kid had some money and a driver's license in his boot. I'm pretty sure the license is fake since it says he's twenty-eight." Horatio rolled his eyes. "The money and the license were wrapped in a note with an address in Hialeah not far from where we found the body." Calliegh took a breath. "Also, he had a club stamp on his hand, Club Vanity."

Speed spoke up first without thinking. "That's one of the sleazier gay bars downtown. They'll let anyone in and have private rooms in the back for…" he stopped when he glanced up and saw the looks he was getting from Horatio and Calliegh. Horatio looked amused, Calliegh looked surprised. "Ah, so I've heard," he recovered.

Horatio cleared his throat then said, "Calliegh, why don't you and Eric take the club. Speed and I will check out the address in Hialeah. We'll meet back here in a couple hours." Calliegh nodded and left to find Eric but not before giving both men a puzzled look.

They both tried really hard not to start laughing hysterically before Calliegh was out of earshot. "Do I want to know how you knew that?" Horatio got out between spurts of laughter.

"Probably not," Speed replied. "Poor Calliegh. I wonder if she or Eric have ever been to an S&M club before."

"Okay, I really don't want to know how you know about that," Horatio said as they headed off to the questioned documents area to pick up the note.

Calliegh reached the print lab feeling as though she had been left out of a really great joke. She walked in shaking her head. Eric looked up from what he was doing.

"Hey Cal. Something wrong?" he asked.

"Something's up with those two," she muttered.

"Excuse me," Eric said.

"Never mind. We got a lead on the kid. I'll fill you in on the way."

"On the way where?" he questioned as he got up to follow her.

"To 'one of the sleazier gay bars downtown' to quote Speed," she replied. Eric gave her the strangest look. "Yeah, I know," she said as they left.

Horatio climbed into the driver's side of the Hummer, Speed got in the passenger side. Horatio looked over at him and asked, "So, exactly how do you know about this S&M club?"

Speed eyed him carefully. "I thought you didn't want to know."

"I lied," Horatio said as he pulled out of the parking lot. This earned him a snort of laughter from Speed.

Looking at the case file he had picked up on the way out of the building he replied, "Some of the guys at my club are into that stuff."

Horatio was surprised. He took his eyes off the road for a second to look at Speed. "Really," he said. "Who?"

Speed was trying hard not to smile. "Well, Sky is, actually."

"What, that kid I've been playing cards with at the club the last few weekends? Your kidding. He seems like such a nice kid."

"He is a good kid. He dragged me to that place a few years ago. He said I was moping since David was away for a week at a conference." This made Horatio laugh. "If I remember correctly, his exact words were, 'Uncle Tim, you've gotta get a life.'"

When Horatio stopped laughing he said, "You know, I've been meaning to ask you about that. He calls you Uncle Tim but you don't have any brothers or sisters. Was he David's nephew?" Horatio asked.

"No. He was one of David's students at Antioch. They had become friendly in a mentor protégé kinda way." Horatio nodded. "During his senior year his parents came home and caught him with his lover. They tossed him out of their house. He showed up at our front door crying."

"And, of course, you could empathize," Horatio added.

"Yeah, but David didn't feel comfortable having him stay with us because he was his teacher. So, Jeff and Tony took him in." He looked over at Horatio. "They always wanted kids."

"That explains why they're always fussing over him."

"Yeah. They're just glad to have him home. About a year after David died, he decided that he needed to go 'find himself' and took off for a while. When he came back six months ago they were thrilled."

Horatio pulled the car up to a house on Palm Avenue and parked. "This is the address."

They knocked on the front door and a woman answered. Horatio introduced them, "Ma'am, we're from the Miami-Dade Crime Lab."

"You're here about that body, this morning," the woman asked.

"Yes. We were wondering if you would take a look at a picture and tell us if you recognize him." The woman agreed and Horatio pulled out the photo from the driver's license, showing it to her.

The woman shook her head. "Never seen him before."

"You see, ma'am," Horatio said, "the problem with that is, we found a piece of paper on his body with this address on it. Does anyone else live here?"

"Just my husband and son. But they're at work."

"What are their names and where do they work?" Speed asked.

"Peter Tolbert is my husband. He works down at the docks, Seacrest Enterprise. My son works downtown at Bob's Surf Shop," she replied. Horatio thanked her then he and Speed headed back to the car.

"Isn't Tolbert the guy who found the body this morning?" Speed asked.

"Yes he is, Speed," Horatio answered getting into the car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Rating**: T for now, may turn M later.

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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Calliegh and Eric pulled up to the club and parked in the lot. The front of the place was not remarkable, a plain white façade with a neon sign above the entrance reading 'Vanity'. Calliegh looked up at the sign then over at Eric. She opened the door and walked in, stopping dead in her tracks. Eric almost bumped in to her.

She looked around the room. First of all, the place was active at 3pm, which was unusual for a club. Music was playing and people were drinking at the bar. Calliegh stood wide-eyed as she took in the décor. The place was dimly lit. The walls were painted a dark blue, almost black. There were medieval weapons hung as decorations; whips, flails, a ball and chain. The patrons, mostly men but a few women, were dressed mainly in leather. Some wore cuffs or spiked collars. There was one man, all in leather, being lead around by a leash around his neck.

She looked back at Eric, at a loss for words. Eric just stared back before saying, "Speed knew about this place?" Calliegh just nodded.

One of the club's employees saw the newcomers at the door. Noticing that they looked out of place, she walked over and said, "You two look like you walked into the wrong club."

Calliegh looked at her for a moment. She was almost as tall as Eric, probably because of three inch heals. She was wearing leather pants and a leather halter top revealing an onyx bellybutton ring. Her hair was short and spiked, colored pink and blue.

Calliegh regained her composure quickly. "I don't think so. We're from the Miami-Dade crime lab. Were you working last night?"

The woman shook her head. "Jesse was. He's around here somewhere." She turned and scanned the patrons until she made eye contact with a young man toward the back of the club. He was tall and thin with curly brown hair. Like most of the others he was wearing leather pants but no shirt and he was barefoot. The woman waived him over. As he got closer Eric noticed that he had a nipple ring and he winced.

"Jess, these two want to talk to you," the woman said.

"Ah, yeah. You see this kid in here last night," Eric said holding out a picture of their victim.

Jesse looked a the picture. "Yeah, that's Jason. He's in here most nights, with different guys."

"Jason got a last name?" Eric asked.

"Greene, I think. We didn't talk much."

Calliegh asked, "Do you know who he was with last night?"

"Some guy. Don't really know. Is Jason in some kind of trouble?" he asked.

"He's dead," Eric replied flatly.

"Oh, my god," the man replied. "I just saw him this morning."

Eric asked, "Around what time?"

Jesse shook his head. "Maybe three-ish. He was on his way out. Mentioned heading out to stay with a friend. What happened?"

"That's what we're trying to determine," Eric answered.

"What about the man he came in with?" Calliegh asked.

Jesse shrugged. "Guess he got what he wanted and left." Calliegh and Eric looked at each other. "Jason was a submissive, you know?"

"No I don't. Why don't you educate me," Eric replied, a bit annoyed.

"Follow me," Jesse said and headed toward the back of the club. "There are two types in here. Dominants and submissives. The submissives allow the dominants do what ever they want to them."

They reached a set of doors at the back of the club. "All the rooms are basically the same." He reached for a door. "I think Jason was in this one last night." He opened the door and let the two CSI's in.

Inside the room there was a table about seven feet long and four feet wide in the center with shackles at each of the four corners. At the back of the room there was a chain hanging from the ceiling with a pair of handcuffs at the end. Scattered around the room were various sex toys as well as a flail.

Calliegh could feel the blush working its way up her neck and into her cheeks. She ducked her head. "Thank you. I think we get the idea." She pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to Jesse. "Call us if you think of anything else, will you," she said and she and Eric left, quickly.

Once outside, Calliegh took a deep breath, shaking her head. "It still amazes me what people will do and call it fun."

Eric let out a breath then asked, "And Speed knew about this place?"

"Right down to the rooms in back," Calliegh answered.

Eric shook his head. "Well, hopefully he and Horatio had more luck than we did 'cus this was a dead end."

Horatio pulled the Hummer up to a building on a dock at the Port of Miami shipyards. They had called ahead and the owner of Seacrest Enterprises walked out to meet them. After introductions, he took the two CSI's over to his loading docks and found Peter Tolbert. Horatio approached him.

"Mr. Tolbert, we meet again," he said as he removed his sunglasses.

Tolbert looked at him. It took him a moment to remember. "Yeah, the cop from that thing this morning. What can I do for you?"

"Well, you see Mr. Tolbert," Horatio said, "you were the one who found the body this morning, and on that body we found a piece of paper with your home address on it. Can you explain that, sir?"

Tolbert just shook his head. "No idea. Should probably ask my son, PJ."

"Now why is that Mr. Tolbert?" Horatio asked.

"'Cus he's one of them," Tolbert answered. Horatio cocked his head. "You know, a queer. Don't like it but he's my son. What're ya gonna do?"

Horatio and Speed exchanged a look. "Maybe we'll do that," he said as they turned to leave.

As they got back into the Hummer, Speed's cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and smiled. Opening the phone he said, "Hey Sky." Horatio looked over at him and smiled. "Let me check, hang on," Tim said to the phone. Then he turned to Horatio. "They want to know if we want to have dinner with them tonight around seven."

"Sound great," Horatio replied. "Tell Sky to dust of the chess set."

"Did you hear that?" Tim asked into the phone. After a moment he said, "Okay, see you then," and hung up.

"What did he say?" Horatio asked.

Tim laughed. "He said, 'If your sure you're ready to get your ass kicked again.'"

They made their way to downtown and found Bob's Surf Shop. Parking the car out front, they exited just as Horatio's cell phone rang. He opened the phone and said, "Horatio." After a moment he said, "Yeah, okay I understand. We'll be back soon. Got one more lead to follow up on." He closed his phone then turned to Speed. "They struck out at the club."

They found PJ Tolbert inside and showed him the photo of their victim. "Yeah, I know him. That's Jason. Is he in some kind of trouble?" PJ asked.

"The worst kind," Horatio replied. "We found his body this morning and we're trying to determine what happened."

PJ's hand flew to his mouth. "Oh, god," escaped his lips as a single tear ran down his face.

Horatio and Speed exchanged a glance. "We're terribly sorry," Horatio said softly. "Is there somewhere private we can go to talk?"

PJ nodded and led them to the back office. Once they were inside, Speed asked, "Were you two lovers?"

The young man's head shot up and he looked into Speed's eyes. Seeing sympathy instead of accusation he shook his head. "No, we were friends. It," his head fell, "it hadn't reached that point yet."

Horatio sighed. "What can you tell us about him. We need to know if he has any family we can notify."

"As far as I know, he doesn't," PJ said still a little shaky. "Jason was homeless, moved around the shelters," PJ informed them.

"Homeless?" Horatio asked. "How is it you know him?"

PJ too a deep breath and a moment to compose himself. When he continued his voice was steady and calm. "I volunteer with an organization called MAGALY. Jason was a member."

Horatio looked over at Speed questioningly. Speed informed him, "Miami Area Gay and Lesbian Youth. It's an organization for gay teens and young adults. They provide a safe place for kids to gather. They have events, concerts, provide counseling, college scholarships. Sky's a member."

Horatio nodded. PJ continued, "Jason came to us after his parents were killed in a boating accident two years ago. He'd lost everything and was living on the street. He'd started doing drugs and turning tricks to earn money. We gave him drug counseling and tried to find him a place to live, a job. But the pull of the streets was too strong. He would relapse and disappear for months at a time."

PJ paused for a moment looking down at his hands. "I wanted so badly to help him. We were the same age. I realized how lucky I was. My father doesn't like that I'm gay, but he accepts it. I've seen so many kids disowned by their families when they find out. I needed to do something." He looked up at Horatio. "Please find out what happened to him."

Horatio nodded. "We will," he promised.

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MAGALY is based on a real organization here on Long Island that provides services to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth in the greater New York area. For more information, check out their website by Googling LIGALY. I will continue this story when I return from Florida next week.


	4. Chapter 4

**Rating**: T for now, may turn M later.

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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When they arrived back at the lab, Horatio and Speed went their separate ways. Horatio headed to DNA and Speed went looking for Eric and Calliegh. He found them in the layout room looking over the autopsy report and tox results.

"Hey," Speed said as he entered the room. "How'd it go at the club?"

Eric replied, "We found out the kid's name, Jason Greene, but not much else."

"He was at the club 'till about three this morning," Calliegh interjected. "The guy who was working last night said he left to go stay with a friend."

Speed nodded. "We found the friend, who gave us the same name. He's the son of the guy who found the body."

"That can't be a coincidence," Eric said raising an eyebrow. "Maybe we should be looking closer at the father."

Speed frowned a little. "I don't think so. For one thing, we never released information about the letters carved into the victims. The only way he could know about that is if he's the one who killed the others. He didn't strike me as the type. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check his alibi for the other murders."

Eric sighed. "What about the son?"

Speed shook his head. "He was genuinely shocked when we told him that Jason was dead. Besides, he's gay and just as freaked out by these killings as everyone else in the community."

Eric glanced at Speed and was about to ask him how he knew what was going on in the gay community when Horatio stepped into the room. "Well, DNA won't be complete until tomorrow. Valera's back-logged," he said. Looking over at the file on the table, he asked, "That the autopsy report?"

Calliegh answered, "Yeah. Death was due to exsanguination, both his corroded artery and jugular vein were severed by an extremely sharp knife. Alexx determined that the track marks she found on his arm were at least six months old. And tox confirms the kid had no drugs in his system, though his blood-alcohol level was .09."

Horatio took the report and flipped through it. "What about the bruises and scarring on his body. This looks like abuse, and over a long period of time."

Eric looked over at Speed then back to Horatio. "He hung out at an S&M club. Spent a lot of time there apparently."

Speed asked, "Did they say anything about what he was in to?"

"Not specifically, but the guy we spoke to referred to him as a submissive," Calliegh informed them. "The club had private rooms right out of the Marquis DeSade's basement."

Speed looked over at Horatio and said, "That would explain the abuse."

"Yeah," replied Horatio. "And the lack of drugs in his system confirms PJ's story."

Speed nodded and Eric looked at Horatio quizzically. "Who's PJ?"

"Tolbert's son," Speed answered. "He said Jason had been clean but tended to relapse. Also said he turned tricks for money."

"Okay," Calliegh said thoughtfully. "The guy at the club said Jason was in there with different men all the time. If he was gay, then that makes sense."

Throughout this conversation Eric was watching Speed. He was beginning to wonder about his friend. He was thinking back to some of the times they had gone out together clubbing, trying to remember if he'd ever seen Speed hook up. Eric managed it almost every time but thinking back he couldn't remember a single time that Speed had left with a lady. He knew Speed was seeing someone, but would never let Eric meet her. He always changed the subject anytime Eric brought it up.

Suddenly he became aware of someone standing right behind him and a voice saying, "Earth to Delko," in his ear. He startled and looked back to find Speed.

He shook his head. "Sorry, I was thinking. What did you say?"

Horatio replied, "I said, let's call it a day. We won't have any more new information until tomorrow when we get the DNA results."

"Yeah, sure," Eric said distractedly.

Speed was still standing right behind him. He put a hand on Eric's shoulder and said, "Get some rest. You look like you could use it."

Eric just nodded and the others left. His mind wandered off again. Was it actually possible that his friend was gay and he didn't know it. Eric had no experience in this respect. To his knowledge he didn't know anyone who was gay, though he'd always thought that he would be able to tell if someone was. He wasn't sure how he felt about the possibility that Speed's new girlfriend might actually be a new boyfriend. Deciding, for the moment, to chalk his thoughts up to the case they were working on, he left the lab and headed home for some rest.

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Horatio and Tim arrived home within a few minutes of each other. As they were getting ready to head over to Jeff's for dinner they began talking about the day's events.

"Horatio," Tim said, "do you think it could be this Tolbert guy?"

"I don't know, but I seriously doubt it. We should check his alibi though," Horatio replied, pulling on a clean shirt.

"Delko thinks we should check in to him also," Tim replied walking out of the bathroom. "I'm a bit worried about him. He seems distracted lately."

Horatio smiled. "He said something similar about you this afternoon."

Speed sighed. "It's getting harder to hide who I am from him," Tim said.

"I'm sure that little slip this morning about Club Vanity didn't help." Speed chuckled remembering the look on Calliegh's face. Horatio shrugged. "Maybe you should just tell him."

Tim shook his head. "I've thought about that. But I'm not sure how he'll react. Besides, I'd rather wait until we're done with this case before I do anything."

"He may figure it out before then," Horatio pointed out. "Come on or we'll be late. By the way, I'd like to ask Skylar if he knows anything about any of our victims. If Jason was a member of MAGALY maybe some of the others were too."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to help," Tim said as they left.

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They pulled up in front of the house in Coral Gables. Horatio remembered the first time Tim had taken him here. He'd been surprised to find out they lived in such a ritzy neighborhood. He hadn't realized just how profitable their club was that they were able to afford a house here.

Sky opened the front door and let them in, giving each man a hug on their way past him. Horatio was immediately hit with the aroma of the food Jeff was cooking and groaned.

"You guys are going to be the death of me," he said. "Do you have any idea how much weight I've gained in the past few months."

Tim kissed Horatio on the cheek and said, "More of you to love."

Horatio pursed his lips. "See if you're still saying that when my clothes don't fit anymore. I'm going to have to start running in the mornings again."

Jeff stepped out of the kitchen laughing. "Well, I can't help it. I learned from the master," he replied patting Tim on the back.

"What are you making?" Tim asked him.

"Ah, you'll like it. Spicy broiled salmon with curried cauliflower. I was just throwing a salad together." Jeff replied. "Want to help?" They both headed into the kitchen.

Horatio looked down at the folder in his hands for a moment then up at Skylar. "Sky, I'd like to ask for your help with something," he said.

Sky was bent over fiddling with the stereo. "Sure, but I'm not sure there's much I can do to improve your chess game."

Horatio laughed. "No not that. And there's nothing wrong with my chess game. I've just had a run of bad luck lately."

"Uh huh, sure," the young man said as he turned to face Horatio. "What then?"

"Well, you know Tim and I have been working this recent string of homicides, right?"

"Yeah, Jeff told me," Sky replied, his expression moved from sad to angry. "The three gay men who've been killed."

Horatio nodded, mirroring Sky's expression. "The press hasn't gotten hold of it yet but we've found another one this morning."

Sky's hands balled into fists at his sides and he shook his head causing his shoulder length blond hair to dance around his face. The anger was clear in his golden brown eyes. "When is it going to stop, Horatio?"

"I'm hoping you might be able to help me with that." Sky gave him a puzzled look. "We have more information on this victim then we have on any of the others. This kid had friends who were willing to talk to us. One of the things we found out was that he was a regular at Club Vanity."

"I don't hang out there anymore. When I was younger, a bit more wild, before I went away, but not now." He gave Horatio an embarrassed smile. "I even dragged Uncle Tim there once. I think it freaked him out a little."

"He told me," Horatio informed him. "And I think your right." He paused for a moment then said, "We also discovered that he is a member of an organization called MAGLLY. Tim said you are too."

"Yeah, I am. What's the guy's name?" Horatio pulled the driver's license photo out of the folder and passed it over to Sky who looked at it closely. Shaking his head he said, "That's Jay." He looked up at Horatio. "Jason Greene. He was only twenty."

Horatio placed a hand on Sky's shoulder and moved them to the sofa. "What do you know about him?"

"He was troubled. Had problems with drugs. His parents didn't have a lot of money, but did have huge debts. When they died, after everything was paid off, he was left with nothing." He looked up at Horatio with sad eyes. "I sometimes wonder what would have happened to me if it wasn't for David and these guys," he said gesturing back at the kitchen.

"You were very lucky," Horatio replied. "Tell me," he said pulling three photos from the folder, "do you recognize any of these men?"

Sky looked over the photos carefully and shook his head. "Sorry, I don't," he said, sounding a bit disappointed that he couldn't help more.

"No worries," Horatio replied. "It was worth a try."

"I can put you in touch with some people at the organization. They might be more help."

Horatio smiled. "Thanks, Sky."

From the kitchen, Jeff looked out into the living room then over at Tim. "They look like they're having a serious talk.

Tim sighed. "We found another one this morning," he stated.

Jeff looked at him in surprise then back out to the living room. "He's not questioning Sky, is he?" Jeff asked becoming angry.

Tim place a hand on his arm. "Relax," he said quietly. "He's asking for Sky's help. We found out that our latest victim was a MAGLLY member. Our hope was that maybe the other's were too and that Sky might know them or know someone who does."

Jeff calmed down immediately and took a breath. "Sorry, I should know better. This whole situation has us on edge." He glanced over at Tim. "I worry about Sky. He doesn't try to hide who he is, which isn't a bad thing. But right now it could get him…" He couldn't finish the sentence and turned away from Tim.

Tim place his hands on his friend's shoulders. "It's okay. Sky's a smart kid, and tough. I don't think you have to worry."

Jeff nodded. "I know. I'm being silly. Thanks." He pulled of his glasses and wiped his face with his hand.

"Hey," Tim said gently, "he's been with you guys for six years. I think that gives you the right."

When they all sat down to eat Horatio noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Tony?" he asked.

Speed replied, "Nashville, interviewing some new talent for the club."

"He should be back tomorrow," Sky said. He looked over at Jeff. "Which is a good thing since he's been moping around the house the past few days."

Jeff glared at him and said indignantly, "I do not mope," causing the others to laugh.

They managed to steer the mealtime conversation away from their case. After dinner Horatio and Sky retired to the living room to set up the chess board while Jeff and Tim cleaned up.

Sky sat cross-legged on the floor on one side of the coffee table with Horatio on the sofa on the other side. They played in silence for a while, both concentrating on their moves. Horatio was beginning to really enjoy these evenings with Sky. Sometimes they played chess, other times poker. He'd developed a real affection for the young man, in a fatherly way.

He looked up from the board and watched Skylar concentrate on his next move. Odds were that the kid would beat him again. He had a sharp mind and was a quick study. Then a thought struck Horatio.

"Say, Sky. Have you thought anymore about what we talked about a couple of weeks ago?" he asked.

Sky smiled and without looking up said, "I wondered when you'd bring that up again."

Horatio shook his head. "You're a smart kid. You should be in college."

"Well, as it happens, I sent in my application to Miami University a few days ago," he replied a little smugly.

"Sky, that's great," Horatio said with enthusiasm. "What major did you pick?"

"For now, Chemistry. I'm not sure what exactly I want to do yet." He shrugged his shoulders. "But I could always teach, or maybe join you and Uncle Tim at the lab."

Horatio smiled at him affectionately. "You're only twenty-three, Sky. You have plenty of time to worry about that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sky replied as he looked down at the board for a moment. "Oh, and by the way," he said moving a piece, "check mate." He smiled up at Horatio who just rolled his eyes.

Later on that night, at home, as they were getting ready for bed, Horatio said, "So Sky told me tonight that he sent in his application for Miami U."

"Yeah, he told me a couple of days ago. He was so excited to tell you himself, he swore me to secrecy."

Horatio pulled off his shirt and tossed it in the laundry. He put a hand on his stomach. "Definitely have to start running again," he said shaking his head.

Tim glanced over at him with a smile and said, "I can think of some other activities we can do that will burn a few calories. And he reached out and took hold of Horatio's belt, pulling him close.


	5. Chapter 5

**Rating**: T for now, may turn M later.

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

**Author's Note:** I want to thank MysticFireBlood for putting an idea in my head after a discussion we had last week. That idea sparked the opening scene of this chapter.

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Horatio awoke and glanced over at the alarm clock. There was still an hour to go before the alarm sounded, but he knew from experience that there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. He stretched and was suddenly hit with a dull ache that made him groan. During their little 'exercise' session last night he must have pulled a muscle in his side.

His movements along with the groan woke Tim, who rolled over so he was facing his lover and propped himself up on one elbow. He notice Horatio wincing and asked, somewhat sleepily, "Something wrong?"

Horatio grimaced slightly. "Yeah, I think I pulled a muscle last night."

Tim chuckled. He had no idea what prompted him to make his next comment. Maybe it was the early hour, the fact that Horatio had woken him up when he could have slept longer, or maybe it was just the fact that the two of them had been together so long now that Tim felt completely and utterly comfortable around him. But he just looked down at Horatio with a smile on his face and said, "Having trouble keeping up with me, Old Man?"

He immediately regretted saying it as he noticed Horatio's expression change. One side of his mouth curled up into a half smile that Tim could only describe as devilish. His eyes narrowed and before Tim had a chance to react, Horatio had wrapped one leg around his lower body and flipped the younger man onto his belly, straddling his legs and pinning his hands above his head.

"Hey," Tim yelled, beginning to laugh. "What the fuck!"

"Old man, huh?" Horatio said and began licking and nibbling at Tim's neck and shoulder in such a way as to hit all of his ticklish spots.

Tim began laughing uncontrollably and squirming to get away, but Horatio had a solid grip on him. "Sorry," he managed to get out around the laughter. "I didn't mean it. Uncle!"

Horatio eased his assault and loosened his grip on Tim's arms, but Tim didn't try to move. As his lover caught his breath, Horatio leaned down and began an assault of a different kind. He began kissing the back of Tim's neck and worked his way over to his shoulder. Latching onto a spot just at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, he began suckling.

Tim moaned as his body began responding to the new assault. "How much time do we have?" he asked a little breathless.

Horatio smiled into Tim's shoulder. "Enough," he replied.

An hour and a half later, Horatio stepped out of the shower and noticed Tim looking in the bathroom mirror, examining a rapidly forming suction bruise on his neck. "Okay, that may raise an eyebrow or two," he said with a shy smile. He stepped up behind Tim and said with concern, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Tim smiled at Horatio in the mirror and shook his head. "No," he replied. Then placing a hand on his right side he said, "But I think I pulled a muscle," causing Horatio to chuckle.

He wrapped his arms around Tim from that back and said, "Sorry, that wasn't my intention."

Tim turned in his arms and placed a kiss on his lips. Then he leaned back and said with a smile, "S'ok, but, I think I'm gonna have to get you riled up more often."

They drove in to work together, something they had begun to do more frequently. No one ever seemed to notice. They were only a little bit late. Horatio stopped at the front desk to collect his messages then went to his office to do some paperwork while he waited for a page from DNA. Forty minutes later, his phone beeped. He looked at the screen and saw a message that read, 'DNA-911.'

When he arrived at the DNA lab, Velera picked up a file and handed it to him. "Three of the samples are not from your victim," she informed him. "And, sir, there was a CODIS hit."

Horatio looked at her expectantly. "Who?" he asked.

"Not who, what," Velera answered.

"I don't understand," Horatio said, confused.

Velera replied, "There was a hit on an unknown male sample collected at the scene of a hit and run about three years ago, by you."

Horatio opened the file and stared in disbelief at the DNA results. He looked up at Velera. "You double checked this?"

"That's what took so long," she said. "I'm positive."

Over in the trace lab, Tim had decided to pull the files on their other three victims and start comparing notes. None of the three men had been positively identified. None had ID on them and none seemed to have been reported missing. Each had the letters F A G cut into them and the autopsy reports showed evidence of recent homosexual activity.

He laid out the photos of the three men next to the photo of Jason Greene and immediately began to notice some physical similarities. All the victims were young men with blonde hair, brown eyes and similar skin complexions. He wondered why he hadn't noticed that before. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't hear Eric Delko enter the room and step up next to him.

As Eric looked over his shoulder at the photos his eye caught sight of the hickey on Tim's neck. He grinned. "So she bites," he said causing Tim to jump.

"What the hell? Don't sneak up on me like that, Delko," said an annoyed Tim.

Eric pulled his shirt collar to the side and shook his head. "I see why you were late this morning."

Tim batted his hand away but not before Eric noticed the red creeping up his neck. "Ha, you're blushing," he said with a smile. "Gonna tell me about it?"

Tim smiled. "I don't kiss and tell," he said.

"Doesn't look like you were the one doing the kissing," Eric retorted.

Tim pursed his lips. "Did you come in here for a reason or just to tease me?" he asked.

"I came in here to see what you were doing, actually?"

"Take a look at these photos," Tim said, once again successfully changing the subject. "Notice anything?"

Eric looked over the photos carefully. "They all have a similar appearance. That's odd. I wonder why we didn't noticed that before," he said looking at Speed.

Speed didn't have a chance to answer before Horatio stepped into the room. Eric looked over at him, then at the file in his hand. "That the DNA results?" he asked.

"Uhm, yeah," Horatio said hesitantly. "Do you mind if I have a moment to talk with Speed, alone?" he asked looking down at the file in his hand.

Eric looked between the two men. "Yeah, sure H. I'll be across the hall," he replied with concern.

Speed looked over at his boss. "Horatio?" he questioned.

Horatio opened the DNA report and handed it to Speed who read it over quickly. He stared at it for a moment then said in shock, "This can't be right."

"Velera double checked the results. It's right."

"You know what this means, don't you?" Horatio nodded. "This son of a bitch killed David." Speed slammed the folder down on the table. "Ran him down in the street," he said loud enough to get Eric's attention from across the hall.

Eric looked over at the two men through the glass. Speed looked upset at something. Horatio had his hand on Speed's arm. He saw Speed take a deep breath and start pacing the length of the lab. Horatio was saying something to him, but Eric couldn't hear him. Speed stopped pacing and pointed to the pictures on the table.

Calliegh walked into the print lab and asked, "What's going on?"

"H got the DNA back on Jason Greene," he replied looking over at the other two men across the hall. "Something in the report got Speed upset."

Just then Horatio stuck his head out of the trace lab and called the other two CSI's over. Speed was sitting on a stool staring at a fifth picture added to the group of four that were there when Eric had left.

"We got the DNA report," Horatio began. "There was a foreign sample in with the swabs." He looked over at Speed then continued. "We got a CODIS hit on a cold case from three years ago." He handed the file over to Calliegh.

She read the report then looked over at Speed. "I remember this case. He was a friend of yours, wasn't he Tim?"

Speed nodded not looking up from the picture. Eric said, "Wanna clue me in. That was before my time."

Horatio brought Eric up to speed on the old case, mentioning only that David was an old college buddy of Tim's. "So what does this mean, H?" Eric asked.

"Look at all five men," he said.

Calliegh spoke up first, "They're all similar in appearance. But, there was no indication that David Harris was gay."

Speed spoke quietly and said, "He was."

"So," Horatio interrupted before anyone could question Speed further, "this means we may have more victims. If the pattern of escalation holds true, Mr. Harris here may have been the first, or at least an early victim of the same killer."

Calliegh nodded. "Eric and I will hit the cold files and see if we can find any others."

"Concentrate on the physical appearance first, then look into backgrounds and sexual orientation. Our first recent victim's cause of death was blunt force trauma, the next two were strangulation, the last had his throat slashed. The pattern of escalation suggests that any earlier victims would be hit and run or beating deaths so start there."

"You got it, H," Eric said. Then he looked over at Speed. "Hey, man. You okay?"

Speed nodded. Eric said, "Alright. Come on Cal."

When they had both left the lab, Horatio took a step closer to Speed, placing an arm over his shoulder and giving him a quick hug. Speed looked up at him. "He's starting to make mistakes, Tim. This is how we get him."

Tim turned his head back to the table and the photos. David's face, with his light complexion, sandy blond hair, and golden brown eyes stared back at him silently.


	6. Chapter 6

**Rating**: T for now, may turn M later.

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

**Author's Note:** Possible tissue warning toward the end.

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Calliegh and Eric were walking toward the computer room to research the cold files when Calliegh asked, "Eric, you know Tim pretty well, don't you? I mean, you've gone out together and stuff."

"Yeah, why," he answered.

"Is he gay?" she asked.

"What?!" Eric exclaimed. "No!"

"I just thought… well, I don't know," Calliegh said, not quite sure where to go with the thought. "I mean, not that it matters or anything. He just seems really close to this case, is all."

"He has a girlfriend, Cal. Did you notice that hickey on his neck?"

Calliegh looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Eric, hickeys are not gender specific."

Eric closed his eyes momentarily and was again confronted with the same thoughts he'd had the day before. Suddenly he had this image of Speedle in bed with another man and he shook his head, not able to deal with that line of thought at present.

"Can we just get back to the case for now, please" he said.

"Fine," Calliegh replied.

Horatio watched Tim for a few moments. He was just sitting there staring at the photos. Horatio knew that Tim had a tendency to bottle things up, to withdraw. This had to the potential to be one of those situations. He decided to try to bring him out of it.

"Hey," he said quietly. "You want to go grab some coffee or something?"

At first Tim didn't respond. Horatio was about to make the offer again when Tim pointed toward the photos and said, "Look at these for a minute, will you."

He wasn't sure if Tim simply didn't hear him or if he was ignoring him. Horatio stepped closer to the table. "What are you thinking?" he asked.

"This guy is after someone specific," Tim said thoughtfully. "Or he's recreating some event from his past. It's not a coincidence that all of the victims look similar."

Their train of thought was interrupted by Speed's cell phone ringing. He flipped it open and said, "Yeah," somewhat distractedly then listened for a moment. "Sky, slow down." He listened again then said, "How soon can you get here?" He looked up at Horatio then said in to the phone, "Okay, see you then," and hung up. "He thinks he's been able to ID the other three victims."

An hour later, Sky showed up at the lab and was escorted to the layout room where he was met by Horatio and Speed. He dropped an armload of books onto the table.

"What's all this?" Horatio asked.

Sky answered, "I got thinking. If the others were members, this how we would find out. Every year MAGALY publishes a directory of sorts. Something like a yearbook. I started flipping through them last night and I ran across someone who looked an awful lot like one of the pictures you showed me. So I kept going. I think I found them all but I needed to look at the pictures again to be sure. That's when I called Uncle Tim."

Horatio shook his head, smiling. "What was that you said last night about wanting to work with us here?"

Sky laughed. "I just couldn't get it out of my head." Then he glanced at the table and noticed the pictures laid out. He looked momentarily puzzled. "Uncle Tim, what's David's picture doing here?"

Tim looked up at Horatio, silently asking his permission to tell Sky what they'd learned. Horatio nodded. He returned his attention back to the young man. "Well, um, we've found some evidence to suggest that David's death may be related to this case."

"What," Sky exclaimed, shocked by this statement. "What evidence?"

Horatio answered. "I worked David's hit and run three years ago. At the time we had no reason to believe it was anything else. But the blood samples I collected from the scene were not all David's. There was one sample from an unknown male who we assumed was probably the driver. I entered the DNA profile into our database incase the guy turned up." Sky nodded. "When Speed collected samples from Jason's scene, there was a hit in the database that took us back to David's case and that unknown sample."

Sky looked over at Tim who had returned to staring at the photos then looked back at Horatio like he wanted to say something but he simply shook his head, mouthing 'Later.' Then Horatio said, "Show us what you found."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Sky said. He pulled a book from the pile. "I had to go back a few years to find them but take a look at this." He opened to a marked page and pointed to one of the pictures. Horatio looked at it carefully then picked up one of the photos from the table.

"That looks like a match. You have a good eye, Skylar." The young man smiled. Horatio looked at the name next to the picture. Mason Freedman, born 1977. There was more personal information but Horatio was eager to see the others. "Show me the rest," he said. Sky opened another book. Horatio compared one of the other photos. Louis McManus, born 1980. The next, from a third book, Freddy Treamont, born 1983.

Horatio let out a breath. They finally had names for their three John Does. "Sky, I don't know what to say."

Speed was shaking his head. "Good work kid," he said pulling Sky in for a hug.

"Thanks. I'm just glad I could help," Sky replied.

As he released Sky, Eric strode into the room. "H, we got something." He stopped when he noticed Speed with someone he didn't recognize. He looked over at Horatio.

Horatio looked between Sky and Eric. "Um, Eric, this is Skylar, Speed's nephew."

Eric held out his hand and Sky shook it. "Nice to meet you. Uncle Tim's mentioned your name a few times."

Eric raised an eyebrow and said, "Well don't believe everything you hear." They all laughed.

"Eric," Horatio said, "you have something?" Eric looked over at Sky then back to Horatio questioningly. "It's okay, Sky's helping us."

"Um, okay. Calliegh and I think we may have found three more victims," he said dropping three files on the table. He pulled out a photo from each folder and laid them out next to the others. "Henry Bailey," he said as he laid the first one down. "Arthur Norman," he said with the second. "And finally, Bruce Macdonald."

The last name caught Sky's attention. "What," he said. "Let me see that one."

Eric handed the photo over to the young man. Sky stared at it for a moment then sighed. "I wondered what ever became of him," he said quietly.

Tim put his arm around Sky's waist and asked, "Who is he?"

Sky smiled sadly. "He was a couple years older than me. We dated for a while senior year." He looked down at Tim, who was still sitting on the stool. "He was the one I was with that day when my folks… I never saw him again after that night."

Tim nodded. "Sorry," he said.

"S'ok. He was cute, and good in bed. But there wasn't much else going on upstairs," Sky said. "You know, I always thought, if I had to get caught like that, why him."

This part of the conversation was beginning to weird Eric out a little. They were talking like two men being together was completely normal. Then Horatio spoke up. "Sky, was Bruce a member also?"

"Yeah, that's where we met," he replied as he began to see where Horatio's thoughts were leading. "Let's check the others."

"Everyone grab a book," Horatio said. "See if you can find the others in here." He handed a book to Eric.

"What's this?" Eric asked as he looked over the books cover.

"A possible connection to all of our victims," Horatio answered. He tapped the book and said, "Look."

After about an hour of searching all of the books they had managed to find all of their victims accept David. Horatio looked at Speed. "David's not in any of these."

Sky spoke up, "He was a volunteer counselor. The books are for the kids, mostly."

"So," Horatio continued. "We have our connection, then." He turned to Sky. "Sky, I don't know how to thank you. This connection may never have come out if it wasn't for your help," he said and shook the young man's hand.

Sky beamed under the older man's praise. "Thanks," he said, then looked at his watch. "Shit, I'm supposed to be picking Tony up at the airport in an hour. I better get going."

He gave Tim a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said, "I'll call you."

"Sky," Horatio gestured toward the books, "can we keep these for a while." Sky nodded. "Great, I'll walk you out."

When they had reached the lobby, Horatio stopped and asked, "You wanted to say something to me earlier."

"Yeah," Sky replied, looking at his hands. "I'm worried about Tim. He never really dealt with David's death."

"What do you mean, Sky?" Horatio asked.

"Well, he never cried. He went back to work only a week after the funeral. Until you came along, he had no interest in dating again," Sky rattled off. "I'm worried about how he'll react now that the whole thing is being dredged up again. I thought I should tell you."

Horatio took a breath. "I'm glad you did. I'll keep an eye on him."

"Thanks, Horatio," he said and gave him a hug. "I'd better get going."

Horatio and the others spent the next six hours compiling a master file of all eight cases. Calliegh had gone back ten years and determined that the oldest case they could find was three years ago. They were all starting to go a bit bleary-eyed when Horatio decided to call it a day.

"We can pull a location map together tomorrow after we've all had some rest," he said and sent everyone home for the night.

The day had been a long and stressful one. As Horatio drove them home he glanced over at Tim, who was staring out the side window of the car. Now that they were away from the lab, away from the case and all the associated stress, he could see Tim withdrawing. The shock of finding out that David had been a victim of their serial killer was bringing up a lot of old feelings that Tim had yet to deal with, even three years later.

When they arrived home, Horatio went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of take-out menus. Neither of them were in any condition to cook dinner and they hadn't eaten in quite some time. He decided he would call for a delivery and hopefully get Tim to talk over dinner. His plans were derailed when he went back into the living room.

Tim was sitting at one end of the couch with his arm propped up on the armrest, pressing the side of his hand into his eyes, desperately trying to hold back the floodgates of his emotions. Horatio sighed and shook his head. Tim had always been the strong one in their relationship, the confident one. Horatio never had a problem showing his emotions, but the only time Tim ever seemed to loose control was during sex. After what Sky had told him earlier today, he knew, at some point, that had to change.

He also knew this reaction was at least partially out of fear on Tim's part. Fear of what had happened to him all those years ago. If he simply allowed Tim to sit there, eventually he would regain control of himself, withdraw for a while, then pretend that nothing had happened, that things didn't affect him the way Horatio knew they did. But that wasn't healthy. He came to a decision.

As he sat down on the sofa, Tim turned his face away. Horatio didn't want him to withdraw, he wanted him to let go. When he placed a hand gently on Tim's shoulder, he heard his breath hitch. Tim tried to turn further away and Horatio knew it might be a fight to get him to let go.

"Hey, c'mere," he said gently pulling at Tim, trying to get him to turn back. After only minor resistance, he moved. Horatio opened his arms and pulled him in. He was surprised to find that Tim complied without a fight. After a moment he felt Tim's body begin to shake as he finally gave up and allowed all of his pent up emotions out.

As sobs began to wrack his body, Horatio tightened his grip on Tim, rocking him gently. He move one hand up to the back of Tim's head and Tim buried his face further into Horatio's shoulder. After a few minutes Tim's sobs subsided into sniffles and he turned his head to rest on Horatio's chest. Slowly he began to bring himself under control.

They sat like that for some time in silence. Horatio began gently stroking Tim's hair. "You still with me?" he asked, thinking Tim may have fallen asleep. He felt him nod and again they fell into silence.

After a few more minutes Tim mumbled, "It's not fair, Horatio," as he started sniffling again.

"What?" Horatio replied, almost whispering.

"Every time things look like they're going good, something always comes along to ruin it," he said through his sniffles.

Horatio began rocking him again. "I think," he said, "it's just life's way of keeping us on our toes." He kissed the top of Tim's head. Knowing that Tim had never really let himself deal with the events of David's death, he said, "Look, you loved David and you miss him. It's okay to feel that." He felt Tim's body begin to tremble again as another wave hit him.

Horatio held him, he would hold him for as long as it took. Three years of anger and hurt and sadness were finally being released. He knew it would be a long night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Rating**: T for now, may turn M later.

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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Tim opened his eyes and blinked a few times. The room was dark. He winced slightly. He had a headache, his neck was stiff, his left arm was asleep, and he had to pee. He could tell he wasn't in bed because his bed wasn't this lumpy. He placed his right hand flat on his sleeping surface and realized he was lying half on top of Horatio on the couch. Horatio had his arms locked around Tim's midsection and was snoring lightly. Tim could barely move.

He lowered his head to Horatio's shoulder again. He felt drained, physically and emotionally. But he also felt like a weight had been at least partially lifted from his heart. He didn't feel good by any stretch but he felt better than he had earlier.

No longer able to ignore the pressure in his bladder, he tried to wake Horatio to get him to let go. He gently patted his shoulder. "Horatio, wake up," he said quietly. Horatio mumbled something and tightened his hold on Tim. Tim sighed. "Horatio, I have to get up," he said a bit louder.

Horatio's eyes fluttered open. "Hey," he said sleepily but didn't loosen his grip. "How you doing?" he muttered as his eyes closed again.

Tim shrugged. "I'll live," he replied. Horatio still held on tight. "But I need to get up."

Horatio let go with one arm and started rubbing Tim's back. "Mmm, why?"

Tim closed his eyes. He said slowly and clearly, "Because I have to take a leak." Horatio immediately spread his arms to allow Tim to get up. "Thank you," Tim sighed.

He finished his business and went to wash his hands when he caught sight of himself in the mirror and winced. He actually looked like he'd spent the night crying. He splashed some cold water on his face before he left the bathroom.

When Tim came back out to the living room, Horatio had turned on a small side lamp that bathed the room in an eerie yellow glow. He was standing by the couch, stretching. Tim walked over to him and Horatio lowered his arms around him, pulling him in close. Tim laid his head on Horatio's shoulder.

"You should have gone to bed," Tim said. "Sleeping on the sofa's gonna kill your back."

"Well," he answered, "I wasn't going to let you wake up out here alone, and I wasn't about to carry you into the bedroom, so…" He shrugged his free shoulder. "Come on, let's go to bed."

The next morning they were sitting in Horatio's office waiting for Calliegh and Eric. Horatio was fiddling with a paperclip on his desk. "You're sure you want to do this," he said looking over at Tim.

"Yeah," he answered. "I can't live this way any more." Horatio nodded. "Don't worry, I won't bring you into it."

"Don't worry about me, okay," Horatio said.

There was a knock on the door and Calliegh poked her head in. "The front desk said you wanted to see us first thing," she said.

Horatio waived them in. Eric took one look at Speed and knew something was up. His hair was more of a mess than usual, he hadn't shaved, and he had dark circles under his eyes. "Man, you look like hell," he said.

"Thanks, Delko," Speed replied sarcastically. He wasn't about to tell Eric that he spent the night balling his eyes out so he just said, "I had a bad night. Didn't get much sleep."

"Grab a seat," Horatio said, gesturing to the chairs opposite his desk. He looked over at Tim for one last confirmation that he wanted to go through with this. Tim nodded. "Speed has something he wants to say to both of you."

Tim stood up from where he was sitting on the couch. He took a deep breath. "I haven't been completely honest with the two of you about myself and I apologize for that." He paused for a moment to gather his courage. "And after everything that has happened, you deserve to know the truth. I'm gay. And I've decided that I can't hide anymore."

Just at that moment, Horatio reached over and took Tim's hand, stood up and said, "We can't hide anymore."

"Horatio," Tim said in surprise, "what are you doing?"

He stepped close to Tim and held his hand tight. "If your out, then so am I," he said looking into Tim's eyes. "We do this together."

"But your career," Tim said with concern.

Horatio smiled at him affectionately and said, "Let me worry about that, okay."

"Besides," Calliegh interrupted, "None of this has to leave this room, if you don't want it to."

Horatio glanced at Tim who nodded his approval. "Thanks, Calliegh."

Eric sat staring at his hands. He was willing to admit that he had begun to suspect about Speed, but Horatio. It was too much for him to deal with. He looked up at the two men in front of him, holding hands and said flatly, "Is that it? 'Cus I have work to do." Not waiting for an answer, he got up and left.

Speed stared after him and as Horatio's office door slammed shut he shook his head. "I was afraid of that," he said sadly.

"Give him some time," Calliegh said as she stood up and approached the two men. "He'll come around."

Horatio gave her a puzzled look. "You seem to be taking all this in stride," he said.

"Well, I have to admit to being surprised about you," she said. "But I kinda figured about Tim. And," she continued, "my little brother's gay, so it's no big deal really. As long as you're both happy."

They both looked down at their joined hand and said in unison, "We are."

"Horatio," Speed said suddenly, "when did you decide…"

"This morning," he interrupted, "when we got up and you said you wanted to do this."

"Why didn't you tell me then?" Speed asked.

Horatio smiled at him. "Would you have gone through with it if you knew?"

Speed shook his head. "Probably not." After a moment he said, "I'd better go find Delko." He reluctantly released Horatio's hand and headed for the door.

Horatio called after him, "Hang in there."

Tim flashed him a half smile and left the room. Horatio collapsed down on the couch. Calliegh took a seat next to him. He glanced at her with his peripheral vision. "You sure you're okay with all this."

"Yeah," she drawled looking down at her hands. "How long have you two been…"

"Little over nine months," Horatio answered before she could finish.

She shook her head. "You two are great at keeping secrets."

Horatio felt bad about that. He considered Calliegh to be a friend and he didn't like lying to his friends. "Yeah," he said a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay. I understand why you did it."

Speed found Delko in one of the layout rooms with a map of Dade County laid out. He had the master file from their serial killer case and the MAGALY yearbooks next to him. Speed walked in and said, "Hey, what are you working on?"

"Location map," he muttered without looking up.

"Mind if I help?" Speed asked. Delko shrugged so he pulled over a stool and sat down. After a few moments he said, "Look, I'm really sorry for lying to you. But I'm never sure how people will react if I just come right out and say 'Hey, by the way, I have sex with guys.'"

"Jeeze, Speedle," Eric said shaking his head. "Did you have to put that image in my head."

"Hey, it got you to finally say something to me," he replied, elbowing Delko in the ribs.

Eric laughed. "Yeah, well, stop it alright?"

"What, putting images in your head or having sex with guys?" he retorted.

Eric glared at him. But couldn't keep the grin from his face. "Can we talk about something else, please."

Speed nodded and Eric handed him a stack of yearbooks and a green pen. "Start marking locations where each victim lived."

Speed made the first mark on the map without opening a file or a yearbook. Over the mark he wrote the name David Harris age 32. He sighed, feeling sad again. This didn't go unnoticed by Eric. He took a good look at Speed for the first time today. What he saw surprised him a bit. He'd joked about Speed looking like hell, but now that he was really looking closely, he look miserable. It was all in his eyes.

Suddenly Eric realized where he'd seen that look before. One evening when one of his sisters had come home early from a date with her boyfriend and told him that the guy had broken up with her. She had spent the night crying in Eric's arms. Eric looked over Speed's shoulder and noticed that he had written the name David Harris on the map. It was obvious to Eric that Speed had strong feeling toward this man.

"Who was he?" Eric asked. Speed didn't answer him. Instead he closed his eyes and shook his head. He was having trouble reining himself in again. It was one thing to loose control of himself at home with Horatio but here and with Eric, that he didn't want to do.

After a few moments, he said a bit shakily, "We, um." He took in a shaky breath. "We were together for, um, six years," he managed to get out before he had to stop again.

Eric said, "It's okay. I get the idea." Speed nodded. Eric thought it best to distract him with some work so he said, "Let's get back to the map. H wanted this done this morning."

Tim took a deep breath and picked up the first yearbook, opened it to one of the marked pages, and began coding the map. They worked in silence for thirty minutes. Eric coding the murder locations, Tim coding where each victim lived. At the end they looked at the map.

"Do you see what I see?" Eric asked.

"Yeah. Call Horatio," Speed told him.

He stared at the map. The murder sites formed a ring around Miami with the MAGALY recreational center right at the middle.


	8. Chapter 8

**Rating**: T for now, may turn M later.

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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Horatio sighed. "Hey," Calliegh said. "You okay?" She could tell something was weighing on him.

He shook his head. "Truthfully, not really," he answered. After a moment he said, "I have to pull Tim off this case."

Calliegh raised an eyebrow. "What happened last night?" she asked. "Why does he look like he's been crying?"

Horatio let out a breath. He didn't want to betray his lover's confidence but right now he needed someone to talk to and he knew he could trust Calliegh to keep things between them. She had been there for him on plenty of other occasions.

"Because he has," he replied. "David Harris was more than an old college buddy." He proceeded to tell Calliegh everything he knew about Tim and David, including what Sky had told him yesterday and what had happened when they got home last night.

"Poor guy," Calliegh sighed. "But you're right. You do have to take him off this case. If this gets out, the judge could toss any evidence that Tim handled." Horatio nodded. "And," she added hesitantly, "you need to limit your involvement now too."

"I know," he said reluctantly. "I want you to take the lead on this. You and Eric are going to have to handle all the field work and interviews. I'll supervise, strictly hands off."

"Do you want me to tell him?" she asked.

He looked over at her appreciatively and said, "Thanks, but no. It should come from me." Just then his cell phone rang. He flipped it open and said, "Horatio." After a moment he closed it again. "They've found something."

When they arrived at the layout room, Eric and Speed showed them the map. "Okay," Horatio said thoughtfully. "It looks like MAGALY has something to do with this, directly or indirectly."

"We should go talk to the director," Speed said.

"Yeah," Horatio said looking at his hands. "I um, want Calliegh and Eric to run with this."

"What," Speed exclaimed. "Why, it should be us."

Horatio looked over at Calliegh. She nodded and said, "Come on, Eric. Let's get going."

"Hang on a second," Horatio stopped them and pulled a card out of his jacket pocket. "Skylar gave me this. It's the contact information for the MAGALY director and Sky's cell number. He's already called ahead to let them know someone from our department would be contacting them. You can call Sky if you need any help." Calliegh took the card and the two of them headed out to make a phone call.

After they left, Speed looked at Horatio and asked, "What's going on?"

Horatio hesitated for a moment. After everything that had happened, he hated to do this. "Look, Tim, you can't work this case anymore."

"Why not?" He looked hurt.

"David," Horatio replied. "You knew enough to take yourself off his case three years ago. Nothing's changed. And I've removed myself from handling any evidence, just in case."

Tim sighed. "Damn it, I didn't think of that." He looked over at Horatio. "I hate sitting on the sidelines," he said as he leaned back against the table.

Horatio walked over and leaned next to him. "I don't like it either. But when we get this guy, our evidence has to be above reproach. "

Tim nodded, accepting Horatio's decision. "This sucks," he said looking over at him.

Horatio chuckled. "Yeah, it does." After a moment he said, "Why don't you take the rest of the day? Go get some sleep. You were up half the night last night."

"You were too, Horatio," he said feeling a bit guilty.

"Yeah," Horatio said with a smile. "But I'm used to it. And besides, I'm the boss. I have to be here."

Tim smirked. "So, boss, you making this an order?"

"If I have to. We still have plenty of work to do and I need you functioning at a hundred percent. Okay?"

"Normally," Tim said, "I'd argue with you. But, I still have a headache and I could use some sleep."

"Take the car. Come back and get me around six and we can grab some dinner," Horatio said.

Tim looked back at the door and seeing no one around, leaned over and gave Horatio a quick kiss. "Love you," he said.

"Love you too," Horatio replied.

Tim turned to leave and saw Delko standing in the doorway, looking a little embarrassed. Speed winced slightly. Delko closed his eyes and said, "I will get used to this."

Speed chuckled. Horatio was looking at his hand, a tinge of pink beginning to color his cheeks. As Tim headed for the door, Horatio cleared his throat and said, "Uh, Tim?" Tim paused. Horatio held up his car keys. "You might want these," he said and tossed the keys to him.

Tim caught them and said, "See you at six."

"See you at six," Horatio replied.

After Tim left, Horatio looked over at Eric. "What can I do for you, Eric?" he asked.

Eric's first thought was, _not kiss Speedle in front of me._ What he said was, "We, um, contacted Stephen Richards at MAGALY. He's going to meet with us this afternoon. He was eager to help."

"Doesn't surprise me, Eric," Horatio replied. "He's a community leader."

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When Tim arrived home, he downed a couple of aspirin then laid down on the sofa and turned on the television. His only reluctance in leaving the lab this morning was that he really didn't want to be alone. He thought the TV would help. Turning the volume to a low setting, he was asleep in no time.

Tim awoke in the bedroom. He looked around not seeing anyone but hearing noise coming from the living room. He walked down the hallway and saw someone sitting on the sofa, watching TV. The man turned to face him.

"_David," Tim said with surprise. "What are you doing home in the middle of the day. Shouldn't you be at school?"_

_David smiled at him. "I came to say goodbye, Timmy."_

_Tim just looked at him for a moment. "What do you mean, goodbye?"_

"_You have someone here who loves you now. It's time to say goodbye."_

_David stood up. Tim walked up to him. "But, I don't want to say goodbye. I want to go with you."_

_David smiled at him again. "I'm sorry Timmy. You can't go with me. You and Horatio have a life together. It's time for me to go."_

_Tim reached for him but David had disappeared. He called to him, "Don't go."_

Tim's eyes flew open and he sat up on the sofa breathing heavily. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Covering his face with his hand he was surprised to find his cheeks wet. He realized he'd been crying in his sleep. He wiped his face, took a breath and whispered, "Goodbye, David."

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Calliegh and Eric stood in the lobby of the MAGALY Recreational Center as they were introduced to the director, Stephen Richards. He was a gentleman in his early fifties, dressed casually. "So, how can I help your investigation?" he asked.

Calliegh replied, "We're hoping you can connect some dots for us. So far, your organization is the only common element we have between all of our victims."

"I'm not sure how strong a connection that is," Stephen said. "I think you'd be hard pressed to find a young person in the gay community in Miami not connected to us somehow."

"Well, Mr. Richards, we don't have much else to go on right now," Calliegh said. "Why don't you tell us what it is that y'all do here?"

"Come on," he said, leading them down a hallway. "I'll give you the grand tour."

As they walked he talked about the center. "We offer a variety of different services here. Educational, health and wellness programs, counseling, recreational. But mostly this is a place where these kids can just be themselves without fear of harassment." He stopped for a moment and turned to face the two CSI's. "You have to understand that for these kids, their own community centers, schools, and even their own homes may not be safe places for them. We still live in a society that's hostile toward us."

Eric glanced into a room to his left and saw a group of young people shooting pool. He walked a little further down the hallway and looked into another room. There were some boys and girls watching TV and talking. He heard some noise coming from further down the hallway. At the end there was a set of double doors, propped open. Inside there were a group of kids playing basketball.

One of the girls took a shot. The ball bounced off the backboard and rolled in Eric's direction, landing near his foot. "Little help," the girl said to him.

"Yeah, sure," Eric replied and tossed the ball back.

The girl smiled at him. "Thanks," she said and tossed the ball back in to play.

Eric stood and watched them play. He was thinking that they looked like any other kids shooting hoops. No different than the kids at the community center in the Cuban neighborhood where he volunteered. Calliegh and the director walked up behind him. Eric looked back at them and smiled. "They look like happy kids," he said.

Stephen nodded. "Most are," he said. "Let's go back to my office. We can talk more there."

The office was small with a simple wooden desk and an old computer, several file cabinets, and folding chairs. Not at all what they expected. "We survive on donations, volunteers. There's not much in the way of federal or state grants for a place like this, unfortunately," Stephen said.

Calliegh pulled out a file from her bag. "We brought some photos, names, dates. We were hoping, with your help, we could put together some kind of profile of the victims. Maybe find some meaningful connection." She handed the file over to him.

Stephen looked through the photos and stopped when he got to David's picture. He shook his head. Calliegh asked, "What is it?"

"This was a real shame," Stephen said holding up David's picture. "He was such a good person. He helped so many kids."

"What did he do here?" Calliegh asked.

"He counseled kids who were having problems at home, drugs, stuff like that," he replied. "He was good at it too." He sat down and looked up at his two visitors. "David was lucky. He came from a loving, accepting home. His partner was a different story." Eric and Calliegh exchanged a glance. "He was basically disowned by his father. He ran away from home at seventeen. Ended up in an abusive relationship, problems with drugs and alcohol. He met David in college and David helped him deal with all of it. He had a real knack."

After a moments contemplation, Stephen said, "I even performed their ceremony."

"What ceremony?" Eric asked.

"Their commitment ceremony. Our version of a marriage ceremony. Here," he said digging into one of his cabinets. "I always keep some picture from each ceremony I perform."

He found a photo album and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Take a look," he said and handed the book over to Calliegh. She couldn't help but smile looking at the pictures of Tim and David all decked out in tuxedos. Eric looked at one photo in particular. It was a picture of the two men together, standing arm in arm. Tim had his head resting to the side on David's shoulder. The thing that stuck him about the picture was how happy Tim looked.

Calliegh and Eric smiled at each other then she handed the book back to Stephen. "Thanks," she said. After Stephen had put the book away, Calliegh said, "We know that our last victim, Jason Greene, was involved with your counseling services. Is it possible the others were too?"

"I can check, if you give me a minute." He booted up his computer and started entering names. After a few moments he looked up from his computer and said, "All these kids were in for drug counseling. David had been their counselor at one point."

Eric and Calliegh exchanged a look. "Can you get us a list of all the kids that David gave drug counseling to? We may have found our connection."

"Our counseling services are confidential," Stephen replied. "I want to help but, I really wouldn't feel comfortable…"

"We can get a warrant, if that would make you feel better," Calliegh offered completely understanding his discomfort.

Stephen nodded. "That would make it easier for me, yes."

"Not a problem," she replied. "If I'm right, then David Harris may have been the trigger for all of this."


	9. Chapter 9

**Rating**: T

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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Eric walked the hallways of the rec center, occasionally chatting with the kids he encountered. It was already 5pm and the judge that they needed to contact for the warrant was still in court. Apparently he didn't consider their request a priority which Eric found frustrating. The longer things were held up, the more of a chance there was that another young person would be killed. He had decided to take a look around rather than sit in Stephen's office chatting as Calliegh had opted to do.

He happened upon a room off to his right with several large, round tables scattered throughout and photographs covering the walls. One in particular caught his eye from the doorway. He recognized the location as a favorite diving spot of his off Key West. He entered the room to take a closer look at the photographs, not noticing the boy sitting at one of the back tables apparently studying.

The boy watched Eric as he examined the photographs, paying special attention to the underwater shots. After a moment he asked, "You like those?"

Eric startled and turned to face the voice. The boy smiled and stood up. He was young, sixteen at most, lean with the muscle development of a swimmer. His hair was long but not quite reaching his neck, black and straight. He still had a baby face and his gentle smile made him look more like a young girl than a young man.

As he approached Eric he asked again, "Do you like those?"

"Uhm, yeah," Eric replied. He pointed to the picture that had originally caught his eye. "This is off the coast of Key West, isn't it?"

The boy smiled again. "You recognize it. Do you dive?"

Eric nodded. "Yeah, do you?"

"Since I was twelve," he replied. "My older brother used to take me all the time. Now I'm old enough to be the lead diver. In two years when I turn eighteen, I can get my instructor certification," he sad proudly. Then eyeing the badge and gun on Eric's belt he asked, "You a cop?"

Eric shook his head. "CSI. I'm more of a scientist."

The boy eyed him somewhat skeptically. "A scientist with a badge and gun."

Eric laughed. "Well, I was a cop first. And sometimes we have to go into some dangerous places."

"Do you think this is a dangerous place?" he asked.

"No," Eric said.

Satisfied, the boy introduced himself. "I'm Jackie Cruz. Nice to meet you Mr. CSI," he said holding out his hand.

Eric shook his hand and said, "Eric Delko, nice to meet you too."

"How long have you been diving, Mr. Delko," Jackie asked.

"It's Eric, and almost fifteen years. I worked underwater recovery for the Miami-Dade police before I joined CSI."

Jackie made a face. "You mean like pulling dead bodies from the water. Gross."

"Among other things," Eric replied with a laugh. "Did you take all these pictures?"

"Yep. Stephen thinks I'm a good photographer. He has a lot of my pictures hanging all over the rec center."

"So, Jackie," a voice called from the doorway. "You got a thing for cops now?"

Jackie turned toward the voice of his mentor. Skylar stood leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest.

Mimicking Eric's earlier words he said, "He's not a cop. He's a CSI, a scientist."

"And you are supposed to be studying for your math test tomorrow," Sky said with as much authority as he could muster. Jackie groaned. "Come on, you do want to pass, don't you?"

Jackie looked defiantly at Sky for a moment. "Did you pass math in high school?" he asked smugly, thinking he already knew the answer.

"Of course," Sky said, still trying to hold onto his air of authority, even though he was lying. He had had to repeat math his senior year just to graduate. "I got A's, because I studied all the time."

Jackie laughed. "That's not what Speed says." Sky raised an eyebrow. "He says you spent all your time clubbing… and screwing."

One side of Sky's mouth curled up into a half smile. "I'm gonna have to have a talk with him about that," he muttered. "But that doesn't mean you can make the same mistakes I did. Now, hit the books buddy."

Jackie walked back to his table under Sky's watchful eye. When he sat down he looked over at Sky and stuck his tongue out.

"Oh, you wish," Sky said somewhat flamboyantly. Jackie laughed and went back to his math problems.

Sky cocked his head toward the door, motioning for Eric to follow him. Once they were out in the hallway Eric said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to distract him."

"Don't worry about it," Sky said with a smile. "A fly on the wall could distract him." This caused Eric to laugh.

He followed Sky down the hall. "So, was Speed right about you?"

Sky looked at him for a moment then chuckled. "Unfortunately, yes. I didn't have much focus when I was Jackie's age. Except when it came to having fun."

Again Eric chuckled. "Well, I can't say I was any different."

Eric's cell phone rang. He flipped it open and said, "Delko."

"_Hey, it's me," Calliegh said._

"What's up?"

_"It looks like Tripp isn't going to be able to get the warrant until morning. We should probably head back to the lab and come back here tomorrow."_

"Damn. Why is the judge delaying this?"

_"I don't know. I even tried calling H and having him call the judges assistant. No luck," she sighed. "I'll meet you out at the car," Calliegh said then hung up._

"What's wrong?" Sky asked.

Eric was annoyed and frustrated and let it show in his answer. "The judge is dragging his feet on the warrant for the counseling records."

Sky nodded. "And those records are confidential so Stephen can't hand them over without one."

As they walked to the front of the complex, Sky stopped Eric. He looked at him a little sheepishly. "You don't look all that surprised that Tim hangs around here. I mean, after what Jackie said."

Eric smiled at him. "Speed told us about him being gay this morning. And Horatio too."

Sky was stunned. "He did?" Eric nodded. "Wow. I don't believe it. Especially Horatio, that's not like him at all."

"Well, I think he didn't want Speed to do it alone," Eric said thoughtfully. "And that is like H."

"I suppose you're right." He thought for a moment then said, "Tim talked about telling you. He said the two of you were friends, but he was worried how you'd react. I guess he was wrong."

Eric looked down at his hands. With more than a little embarrassment he said, "Actually, he wasn't all that wrong. I didn't react well at all. In fact I walked out of the room without saying a word to him." He paused for a moment. "I was angry and I don't know why. But not anymore. I was being stupid. Speed and I have been friends for two years. That hasn't changed. I guess I just needed time to adjust."

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Calliegh and Eric pulled into the parking lot at the lab right next to Horatio's car. Tim was leaning up against the hood waiting for Horatio. "Hey," he said. "So I heard what happened with the warrant."

Eric shook his head. "The judge is dragging his feet. I don't understand why."

Tim just looked at him. A light bulb went off in Eric's brain. "Oh. Well that's not right," he said. Still Tim said nothing. Eric sighed. "Look, Speed. I'm sorry for the way I reacted this morning. I was being stupid. I know what it's like being the focus of prejudice. Anyway, sorry," he said finally, holding out his hand.

Tim smiled at him and shook his hand. "S'okay. I'm sorta used to it." He shrugged.

"Well you shouldn't have to be used to it."

Tim looked over at Calliegh. "Everything okay Cal." She looked a little distracted.

"Yeah, just frustrated," she answered.

"Welcome to my world," Tim replied.

She chuckled. "You look better than you did this morning. Did you get some sleep?" Tim nodded. "You should know, we, um, know about David." Tim arched an eyebrow. "Stephen showed us pictures from your ceremony."

"Did he," Tim said.

"Well, I don't think he realized that we knew you," Calliegh replied.

"Yeah," Eric said. "I never thought I would actually see you in a tux," he teased.

Tim pursed his lips and rolled his eyes just as Horatio walked up.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey yourself," Tim replied.

"You ready to go," Horatio asked. "You look much better," he said gently placing a hand on Tim's arm. Tim nodded. Horatio looked over at Eric and Calliegh and asked, "We're going to grab a burger and a beer. Want to join us?"

"Thanks, H. But I have a date," Eric replied.

"Yeah, and I promised my dad I'd cook dinner tonight," Calliegh said.

"All right then. See you in the morning," Horatio said as he got into the car.


	10. Chapter 10

**Rating**: T

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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The ride from the restaurant passed in comfortable silence and they arrived home after the sun had gone down. Tim stood by the side of the car, staring up between the palm trees at the full moon. Horatio noticed him as he was about to head for the front door so instead he circled the car, stopping in front of his lover and giving him a quizzical look.

"Hey," he said quietly. "You okay?"

Tim slowly lowered his head, meeting Horatio's eyes and holding his gaze. He smiled.

"Yeah. For the first time in a long time, I think," he said.

Without loosing his connection with Horatio's eyes, Tim lifted his hand and gently cupped his face. The redhead's eyes fluttered closed at the tenderness of the gesture. He turned his head into Tim's hand, placing a soft kiss on his palm. Tim felt a shiver run through his body that had nothing to do with the cool night air. He took Horatio's face in both hands and slowly drew him in.

The kiss started out soft and gentle until Tim's tongue brushed against Horatio's lips, begging entrance. Horatio complied willingly and opened his mouth, moaning into the kiss as he felt Tim's tongue make contact with his own. Tim couldn't help smiling at the sound. He slowly moved his hands from Horatio's face, gently brushing them down his neck to his shoulders. Horatio's hands moved to rest on Tim's hips of their own accord and he pulled the younger man flush against his body.

Tim groaned with need as he felt Horatio press up against him. He broke away from Horatio's lips and began trailing kisses along his jaw. Horatio tilted his head to one side to give his lover better access. He whimpered slightly as he felt Tim latch onto his earlobe, just as a cool breeze blew by reminding him that they were still standing outside by the car, but for a moment he couldn't find his voice.

"Hey," he finally managed to say, his voice low and husky. "We're giving the neighbors a show."

He felt Tim smile as he worked his way back up to Horatio's mouth. Without breaking the latest kiss, he moved Horatio backward up the path toward the front door. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his keys and managed to unlock the door by feel.

Once inside, Horatio found himself being pushed up against the door as it slammed shut. Their kisses grew more passionate as Tim began unbuttoning Horatio's shirt. He pushed the shirt and suit jacket off Horatio's shoulders and down his arms allowing them to fall to the floor. Horatio reached for Tim's belt, quickly freeing it as he pushed Tim backwards through the living room and toward the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing in their wake.

Tim Speedle knew that he didn't believe in ghosts or spirits or anything like that. But as he sat at the kitchen table across from Horatio, he couldn't help thinking about the dream he'd had the day before. He felt as though David had actually been there, in the room with him, giving his blessing to his relationship with Horatio. It was like he was agreeing to no longer haunt Tim anymore.

Last night as they had made love, for the first time Tim hadn't felt David's presence in the room, only Horatio's. And somehow it had been a very different experience for both of them. Horatio had even said so, once he had regained enough conscious control over his body to speak. The sex had always been good in their relationship, but last night had gone beyond good into the realm of adjectives Tim couldn't find in his vocabulary.

He glanced over at his companion, sitting with a coffee mug in his hand, staring off at nothing in particular with a smile. Tim reached his bare foot across the short distance under the table and brushed it up Horatio's leg. Horatio raised his head, meeting Tim's eyes.

"What are you thinking?" Tim asked him.

The side of Horatio's mouth quirked up and as he closed his eyes for a split second, his mind instantly flashed back to last night and he could suddenly feel everything again. Tim's feathery touches over his entire body, making him shiver. He could feel Tim's mouth on him, kissing, licking, suckling. And he could feel Tim filling him completely, moving agonizingly slowly, bringing him to earth-shattering completion. He shifted slightly on his chair as he opened his eyes.

"That last night went beyond wonderful," he said shyly. "And that I'm sorry we have to go to work today."

Tim sighed. "Duty calls, I guess."

Reluctantly, he got up and placed his own coffee mug into the sink. Horatio got up and did the same. As he turned he came face to face with Tim and he leaned in quickly capturing his lips. The kiss rapidly grew more passionate but after a minute, Tim mumbled into Horatio's mouth, "Don't we have to go to work?"

Horatio answered him by sweeping his tongue over Tim's teeth. "Mmm," was all he managed in response as he returned to kissing Tim.

Tim smiled and as Horatio began nibbling at Tim's neck, he muttered breathlessly, "We're gonna be late."

"Don't care," Horatio said, his voice muffled by Tim's neck. And for once he didn't care. If the lab needed him, they had his cell number. If anything important was going on that needed his immediate attention they would call. Tim chuckled and allowed Horatio to pull him down the hallway.

It was nearly 11am before they finally made it to the lab. They would have been there sooner except for the fact that they had decided that it would save time if they shared a shower. And, of course, it didn't. They had to make a conscious effort to not hold hands as they walked into the lobby.

Eric practically came running up to them as they stepped out of the elevator. "Finally," he said. "Where the hell have you two been?"

Horatio and Tim exchanged a glance, each trying to hide the slight blush that was beginning to show. Eric looked at both men and said suddenly, "You know what? I don't think I really want to know." After a moment he continued. "Calliegh and I found something that you both need to see."

They followed him to one of the layout rooms where they found Calliegh. She had a file open in front of her and looked up at the sound of people entering the room. "Thank God. I was getting worried," she said upon seeing Horatio.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "We got…"

"Hung up on the way here," Tim finished.

She looked away from the two men for a moment and smiled as she realized what had probably 'hung them up.' "We may have a lead. But we also have a problem."

Horatio looked at her expectantly. She continued, "David had a patient, about a year before his death. A sixteen year old by the name of Luis Tenacha."

Tim immediately recognized the name. "He committed suicide," Tim said. "He had a problem with heroin, as I recall. David didn't take his death well. He always considered it his fault. That he'd failed Luis somehow."

"Well," Calliegh continued, "apparently his father considered David responsible for his son's death also. The center logged several threatening messages left on their answering machine in the weeks following the boys suicide."

"You think Tanacha is involved in all this," Horatio asked.

"He has motive and opportunity. And," Eric hesitated a moment. "He apparently has been doing some volunteer work at the rec center for the past couple of years."

Tim looked at him in utter surprise. "How is that possible?" he asked.

"Apparently, after David was killed, he went to Stephen and apologized for his behavior. He said it was all due to the fact that he had been distraught over his son's death and that he wanted to make things right," Eric informed them. "And, Speed, he's a cab driver."

"So, he didn't just have motive and opportunity," Tim said. "He had access. He would have been someone these kids trusted."

Calliegh continued the thought, "And all of the victims are surrogates for David Harris. He's killing him over and over again by killing his other patients."

"This is where we get to the problem," Eric said. "There are only two of David's patients left who fit the physical description of the other victims."

He handed a file over to Horatio. Tim looked over his shoulder and gasped. "Skylar!"

"I've been trying to call him," Eric said. "But I keep getting his voice mail."

Horatio became aware of a buzzing in his suit jacket. He pulled out his cell phone and saw Frank Tripp's name on the caller ID. He answered the call. Tim saw Horatio's face go pale. "What is it?" Tim asked.

"We've got another one."


	11. Chapter 11

**Rating**: T

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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Tim felt himself beginning to panic and he gripped Horatio's arm. For a moment he couldn't move. Then he quickly fished his cell phone out of his pocket and hit the speed dial for Sky's cell. After a few rings, the call went to voice mail. He listened to the message then said, "Sky, call me. ASAP. It's urgent." And he hung up.

Horatio looked at him, trying not to panic, himself. "Call the house, the club, and the rec center," he said to Tim as calmly as he could. Then he turned to the other two. As he scribbled an address on the back of one of his business cards and handed it to Eric he said, "Eric, go meet Frank at the scene. And call me as soon as you get there, understand." Eric nodded and took off. "Calliegh, we need to get a warrant for this guy's residence and his cab."

"I'm on it," she replied and headed out of the room.

Tim was pacing the floor and mumbling curses at his phone. "There's no answer at the house and they haven't seen him at the club since last night. Maria, at the center hasn't seen him but he never uses the main entrance so he could be there and she wouldn't know it. Stephen's not answering his phone." He said this all in one breath. His heart was pounding as if he's just run a marathon.

Horatio tried to calm him down. "Take it easy," he said calmly. "We don't know it's him yet. Let's wait 'till Eric calls."

Tim took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm himself. But he couldn't stop his brain from dredging up thoughts of Sky lying out there like the others they'd found, of the mutilation, of having to tell Jeff. His knees felt week and he allowed himself to collapse onto one of the stools in the lab.

"God, Horatio," Tim breathed out. "What if I have to tell Jeff?" His whole body was trembling now.

Horatio stepped close to him, pulled him to his feet, and in the middle of the lab, in the middle of the day, with people walking past in the hallway, he pulled Tim into his arms and held him. He no longer cared what anyone thought. At that moment he needed the comfort as much as Tim.

Tim snaked his arms around Horatio's waist, under his suit jacket, while he willed his body to stop trembling. "Sky's a smart kid," Horatio said quietly, rubbing his hand over Tim's back. "He wouldn't put himself in a vulnerable position." He said this as much to convince himself as his companion.

Calliegh stood at the door to the lab for a moment, not wanting to intrude, before clearing her throat. Tim tried to pull away but Horatio wouldn't let him go far. Still holding him close he looked over at Calliegh.

"I'm heading over to the courthouse with Bernstein," she said. "Let me know what Eric says when he calls." Horatio nodded.

Eric made it to the scene in record time. Alexx arrived just as Eric jumped out of the Hummer, grabbed his kit, and made his way to the body. The victim was lying face down in a pool of blood. Looking from the back, Eric thought it could be Skylar, but he needed to see the face to be sure.

"Alexx, I need you to turn him over," he said with enough urgency to grab the coroner's attention.

"What's the hurry, Eric," she inquired. "He's not going anywhere."

"Alexx, please," Eric implored. "This may be a friend of Speedle's. I need to see his face to be sure."

Alexx didn't need to be told twice. She reached over the body carefully and turned him onto his back. Two things became apparent immediately. The first was that this was definitely a victim of the same killer due to the letters cut into his chest. The second was that his face had been mutilated by a gunshot wound and Eric was unable to identify him.

He pulled out his cell phone and immediately dialed Horatio.

Back at the lab, Horatio's cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He grabbed it and said, "Yeah, Eric," expectantly.

_"H we got a problem. The kid's been shot in the face. I can't ID him." Then a thought occurred to him. "Does Sky have any identifying marks, scars, tattoos, piercings, like that?"_

Horatio looked at Tim and repeated what Eric had just said. "Yeah," Tim answered. "He has a tattoo of a rose, right here." He pointed to a spot just to left of his groin. Horatio relayed this information to Eric.

Back at the scene, Alexx opened the kids pants enough to reveal the area in question. Eric let out a sigh of relief. "No tattoo," he said into the phone.

The relief on Horatio's face was enough to tell Tim that it wasn't Skylar lying out there. But the feeling was short lived as he realized that another young man had been murdered and Sky was the next target.

"Eric," Horatio said into the phone. "Process the scene. Pay careful attention to finding that bullet. It may be the best physical evidence we have this time."

Calliegh and Detective Bernstein headed over to Tanacha's residence, warrant in hand. The house was small and sort of run down. Bernstein knocked on the front door but no one answered. Calliegh peeked through one of the front windows but saw no movement. The detective motioned to one of the uniformed officers to kick the door in. The officers cleared the building, informing Bernstein that no one was at home.

As Calliegh entered the house, she first became aware of the clutter, then the odor. The coppery smell of blood penetrated the place. She looked over at Bernstein. "You smell that?" she asked.

He nodded and headed toward the back of the residence, where the smell seemed to be stronger. In the laundry room he found a set of bloody clothes. He called to Calliegh, "In here."

Calliegh made her way back to Bernstein. "I'll bet these were the clothes he was wearing when he killed Jason Greene," she said as she pulled a large bag from her kit. "DNA will confirm." She carefully labeled the bag a placed it to the side, then began searching for more evidence pausing only when her cell phone rang, receiving the good news from Horatio that the body that was found was not Skylar.

She moved to the bedroom and when she opened the drawer of the bedside table she struck gold. Inside was a collection of driver's licenses, each belonging to one of their victims, except for Jason Greene. Either the surprise of how messy the knife attack had been or the fact that Jason had carried his ID in his shoe had denied the killer a trophy.

She called Horatio. "He's our guy alright," she said, then proceeded to run down everything she'd found.

Back at the lab, Horatio sat in his office with Tim. "Now we just have to find him," he said into his cell phone. Just then the police scanner that Horatio kept in his office came to life. The dispatcher was alerting to a disturbance at an address that Tim immediately recognized as the MAGALY rec center. Horatio flipped his phone shut and looked at him just as the dispatcher added, "Unknown male suspect armed, possible hostage situation."


	12. Chapter 12

**Rating**: T

**Warnings**: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.

**Summary**: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.

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Eric carefully searched around the body for any evidence of a bullet. The casing had landed about two feet away from where their victim lay. A glint from a palm tree at the side of the road caught his eye and as he got closer to the tree his face broke into a smile. "Bingo," he said.

After photographing the bullet, he carefully dug it out of the tree trunk. It still had blood and tissue on it. He walked back to Frank, holding up the envelope that now held the bullet and said, "Pay dirt, Frank."

"Good," Frank replied. "I wonder if Calliegh's found anything at the guy's house."

"Don't know. I could give her a call," Eric suggested. But he didn't have a chance. He heard the call come over one of the uniformed officer's radio about a disturbance and possible hostage situation. Eric recognized the address.

Two Hummers and Frank's sedan, sirens blaring, came to a screeching halt in front of the MAGALY facility. Two patrol cars had already arrived and were awaiting backup. As the ranking officer at the scene, Horatio took command.

"Frank, take an officer and head around back," he said. "Eric, you and I will go in the front." Then he looked over at Tim and said, "Speed, wait here."

It was a simple command and even though he didn't like it, Horatio was in full Lieutenant mode and nobody, including Speedle, was going to argue with him. He just nodded and held his breath as he watched them disappear into he building.

Horatio and Eric slowly made their way through the building brandishing their weapons. Eric was already familiar with the layout of the center so Horatio allowed him to take the lead. Luckily it was the middle of the day and all the kids were at school so the place was fairly deserted, save for a few employees and volunteers.

Eric led them through the halls toward the sound of raised voices near the area of Stephen's office. As they approached they could her an argument taking place between Stephen and another man.

"I trusted you, Jose. These kids trusted you," Stephen yelled.

"My son died because of you people."

"We tried to help your son, Jose. Please let the boy go," he pleaded.

As Horatio peered into the room his heart skipped a couple of beats. Skylar was being held hostage, with a gun to his temple. With his free arm, Tenacha held Sky tightly against his body. Horatio noticed Frank and the uniformed officer approaching from the other direction and signaled for them to hold back.

Stephen's office had only one door; one way in, one way out. If they all stormed the office together, Tenacha might feel trapped and shoot Skylar out of sheer instinct. He motioned for Eric to stay by the door then glanced inside again, this time catching Sky's eye. They held each other's gaze for a moment before Horatio stepped quietly into the room, gun pointed at Tenacha.

"Let the boy go," he said in his most commanding voice.

Tenacha spun both himself and Skylar around, moving the gun from Sky's head to point it at Horatio. Sky took advantage of the situation and dug his elbow into his captor's side. The force of the blow caused Tenacha to release his hold on Sky but was not enough to throw him off balance. He raised his weapon. Two shots rang out simultaneously.

Eric rushed in just as Tenacha crumpled to the floor. But Skylar had also been hit and lay, unmoving, a few feet away. Eric ran to him and turned him onto his back. The young man's face was contorted with pain. Eric quickly gave him the once over. The bullet had hit him in the arm.

He let out a breath as Horatio called for the paramedics. He placed his hand on Sky's chest and said, "You're okay. You were hit in the arm, probably broke the bone. You'll be fine," he said as calmly as he was able. Horatio was by his side.

"Easy for you to say," Sky replied through gritted teeth.

Speed came rushing into the room with his weapon drawn. He saw Sky lying on the floor with Eric and Horatio hovering over him. Panic set in quickly as he holstered his gun but Horatio came over and told him Sky was going to be fine. "The bullet broke his arm, that's all."

The ambulance carrying Jose Tenacha pulled away from the curb, sirens blaring. Horatio's bullet had hit him just below the neck and he he was bleeding profusely. They weren't sure if he would live long enough to make it to the hospital.

A short time later, Sky was wheeled out on a stretcher, his arm bandaged and temporarily immobilized. His free hand was firmly encased in Tim's. As they loaded him into a waiting ambulance, Tim looked back at Horatio and said, "I'm going with him. Call Jeff."

Horatio call to him, "I'll meet you there." Then mouthed 'Love you.' Tim smiled at him as he climbed into the back of the ambulance.

Two days later

A small crowd of people sat in Sky's room at Jackson Memorial Hospital during the morning visitor's hours. Jeff and Tony sat at his bedside. Horatio was leaning against the wall with Tim leaning against him. Calliegh and Eric occupied chairs on the opposite side of the bed from Jeff.

"The doctor says I'm stuck here for a few more days," Sky said frustrated. "They have to wait for the surgery incision to heal enough for them to cast my arm."

"Well," Horatio said. "At least your alive and safe."

"Yeah," Tim interjected. "And the doctor said you don't have to worry about those titanium pins in your arm setting off any metal detectors." This caused Sky to laugh, then wince as he inadvertently moved his arm. "Sorry," Tim said.

"And you don't have to worry about Jose Tenacha," Calliegh said. "We found enough evidence tying him to all nine murders to put him away for the rest of his life."

"If he ever wakes up," Eric continued.

Tim glanced at his watch then at Horatio. Something unspoken passed between them and Horatio nodded. He pushed off the wall taking Tim with him. "I have something I have to do this morning," Tim said. "We'll stop by later this afternoon."

Horatio leaned up against the hood of his car as he watched Tim walk away from him and toward his destination. Hands thrust into pockets, Tim approached the small plot with the simple stone marker reading, 'David William Harris 1967 – 1999.' He was silent for a moment.

"Hey," he said quietly, looking down at the grave. "Sorry I don't come by more often, but it's still difficult for me." He took a breath. "I came by today because I had to let you know that we finally caught the guy who did this to you. I wanted you to know that."

He stood silent for another moment before saying, "Everyone's doing well. But we all miss you." A single tear escaped down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away. "I, um, don't want you to worry about me. I know you always did. I've met someone and we're very happy together." He stared down at the grave again for a moment. "Well, I should get going. I promise I'll come back again soon." Slowly, he made his way back to Horatio, knowing he was leaving one life behind, finally ready to start a new one.

Fin

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This one is finally done!! The series will continue, after I take a short break.


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